


she was my babysitter first

by marveling_under_an_open_sky



Category: In the Heights - Miranda/Hudes
Genre: Babysitting, Female Friendship, Gen, Kid Fic, Light-Hearted, Shenanigans, and okay smol sonny???, i love these characters GOSH, smol nina trying to take care of smol sonny???, smol vanessa???, this fic was practically begging to be written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-20 16:09:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18996034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marveling_under_an_open_sky/pseuds/marveling_under_an_open_sky
Summary: Half the time, Nina enjoys babysitting Sonny de la Vega, laughing at his eight-year-old jokes, telling him stories, and trying to explain prepositions and tariffs in a kid-friendly manner to him, because this boy is going to go places if it’s the last thing she does.The other half of the time, though, she wants to punch his lights out.---Nina tries to make Sonny do what he doesn't wanna do...and, well, it goes about as well as you'd expect it to.





	she was my babysitter first

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going off of Lin's (I believe?) 2012 tweet that Sonny's mom worked triple shifts so other people stepped in to take care of Sonny (read: the entire freakin barrio). Title & inspiration comes from Sonny's line in Carnaval del Barrio.

Half the time, Nina enjoys babysitting Sonny de la Vega, laughing at his eight-year-old jokes, telling him stories, and trying to explain prepositions and tariffs in a kid-friendly manner to him, because this boy is going to go places if it’s the last thing she does.

The other half of the time, though, she wants to punch his lights out.

“SONNY!” Nina clatters down the fire escape and hurls herself off the last three steps. She sprints after the small figure fleeing down the street, cursing her lack of physical ability. “Sonny de la Vega, get back here!” She skids around the corner and spots her quarry about to dive through a hole in a fence. Desperate, Nina summons a burst of speed and throws her arms around his torso.

Sonny shrieks; no one’s voice can shrill into Nina’s head like Sonny’s can. Though she is twelve and tall for her age, Nina’s gangly and stick-thin, and Sonny is a worthy opponent. She attempts to pin him in her arms, but he wrenches himself free and hollers like she’s trying to murder him.

“It’s not a big deal!” she yells. For a heart-stopping moment, he breaks her grasp on him entirely, but then she manages to snatch his wrist and begins hauling him down the street - or rather, heaving him forward a step before he drags her back two.

“NO!” Sonny screeches, writhing like an eel.

“You - _will_ \- ” Nina gasps. Her fingers begin to slip.

“Hey, hey, hey,” someone breaks in, and Nina goes limp with relief. She would recognize that voice in Antarctica.

Vanessa, a savior in denim cutoffs, long hair flying, wrangles Sonny into a hold that would subdue a Fury. “Woah there, kid, this ain’t the WWE.”

Nina releases a _whoosh_ of breath, scooping back her bangs. “Vanessa, you don’t even know how thankful I am right now.” Though Vanessa is tactful enough not to mention it, Nina knows they’re both thinking of that wretched C in gym.

Vanessa grins crookedly. “‘Course. Now, what - Sonny, _watch_ your mouth; do you want Abuela to tan your behind? - what happened this time?”

Nina sighs. “Haircut.”

“I will _not_!” Sonny shouts, just to punctuate her point. Vanessa grimaces and starts pulling him by the wrist down the street. She's a force to be reckoned with, and even Sonny can recognize a lost cause when he sees one. He stops struggling and merely shuffles along, sulking magnificently. Nina trails after them, smoothing out her shirt.

Vanessa glances back. “Nina, you know yellow’s not your color.”

Nina groans. “First Sonny tries to go all Enjolras on me, and now you’re picking on my fashion choices?”

“Babe, I’m always up for picking on your fashion choices. Who’s Enjolras?”

“You know, that guy from Les Miserables?”

“Nina, why in the name of de la Vega coffee do you expect me to know Les Mis characters? You’re literally the only seventh grader on the planet to read that brick. I could use it as a counter stool.”

“You could at least listen to the musical!”

“Do I _look_ like a theatre kid?” Vanessa makes a noise of disgust. But there’s no time to begin a proper argument. They’ve reached the salon, and there’s Daniela in the doorway. Her hip is cocked against the frame, her left eyebrow raised in the way only Dani has. “I heard you,” she says to Sonny. He sticks out his tongue.

“The whole _barrio_ heard him,” Nina grumbles. It makes her look bad, having to be rescued, even by her best friend. “Daniela, Tía says Sonny needs a haircut. Would you do the honors?”

Daniela eyes Sonny. “All right, _muchacha_. But the price doesn’t change.”

No other customer is in the salon, but Carla is sweeping up strands of dark curly hair. She looks up and chirps with delight. “ _Chiquito_!”

Sonny brightens and Vanessa lets him go so Carla can hug the youngest de la Vega properly. She kisses his cheek with a smack, leaving a smear of rusty lipstick. “You’ve grown, _chiquito_. What’s Nina been feeding you?” she says teasingly. Sonny climbs into the salon chair and starts chattering away.

Nina crosses her arms. “Oh, sure, one look at Carla and suddenly the salon’s Sonny’s favorite place in the world.”

Vanessa snorts. “Just be grateful he’s here.”

“I almost sprained my ankle trying to get him here, so it’d better be worth it.”

Nina slumps into a chair. Vanessa prods her, and Nina begrudgingly gives up several inches of the seat. Her friend settles herself in the space, one leg dangling.

Nina leans into Vanessa’s shoulder and watches as Carla snips at Sonny’s hair while he makes hideous faces at himself in the mirror. “Why do I even do this?”

“Because you need the money for your college savings and you adore slimy little kids.”

“Right.”

Daniela calls, “Vanessa, you finish sweeping and clean the tools in that bin, and I’ll pay for your next two coffees.” She waves the broom at them.

Vanessa turns to Nina. “You help me, and I’ll split my latte with you.”

“Uh, no, Tía won’t get back for another fifteen minutes. Besides, I have an essay to write.”

“After?”

“No! It’s due on Thursday!”

“You have two whole days! C’mon,” Vanessa wheedles. “I’ll help you with Spanish after school tomorrow.”

Nina wavers. “Promise?”

“I’ll even try to figure out irregular verbs for you, even though I think it’s ridiculously unnecessary.”

Of course Nina caves at that.

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticism is very welcome! Especially about their voices, Latinx things, and New York stuff.
> 
> Okay, yes, I put a Les Mis reference in. Honestly? I'm not in the fandom, but I thought it fit, and obviously Nina would be the one to read the book and listen to the musical obsessively - book first, think. And of course there's a Greek mythology reference too. Blame my fascination with Greek mythology. And Hadestown. 
> 
> This originally was about Nina and Benny - same thing with madcap Sonny, but with Benny rescuing her, vaguely inspired by the cut flashback song Nina originally had where she's twelve and has a massive crush on Benny Then I thought, you know, there's enough romantic/crush stuff out there. There's enough boy-helps-girl stuff out there. Let's get some female friendship over here! I adore Nina and Vanessa's friendship. 
> 
> On that note, I'll close up with a quote from our very own Linnamon roll:  
> "Gmorning. / YOU ARE SO LOVED AND WE LIKE HAVING YOU AROUND. / *ties one end of this sentence to your heart, the other end to everyone who loves you, even the ones you haven't heard from for a while*  
> *checks knots*  
> THERE. STAY PUT, YOU.  
> <3 <3 <3"  
> \- Lin-Manuel Miranda, July 8, 2018
> 
> And I thoroughly agree with that. It can be scary out there, but it's a little less scary if we face it with you.


End file.
